Scary Face Pancake Day!

From the back:

Isabelle and Jacob

Sophia and Massimo

Sarah and Emma

Me eat pancake!

Friday was IHOP's free scary face pancake day...and by free I mean go ahead and buy a bunch of other stuff and we'll give the kids a free pancake day. :0) It's okay, though, I expected it...I mean a mom has to eat too and I sure am not above some harvest pumpkin pancakes! Meredith's 2 youngest kids, Sarah and Jacob were off school so Sophia was thrilled to spend the day with them too. We had a busy but fun day and it's always nice for Sophia to have additional playmates! After pancakes and Target (with 4 kids...uh no thanks, not again!) we played inside and out...enjoy some pics from the kids afternoon outside!

Jacob refining his home run swing

Her Highness and her royal tricycle

Leo never met a ball he didn't like

Sophia and Sarah doing some downhill races

2 cute pumpkins!

Don't honk, I'm going as fast as I can!






And...some much awaited video! Leo is "walking"! He can walk, he will walk...but only when he wants to. This child most certainly does things on his own schedule, and that's okay, but honestly, I'd like his schedule to have more of a sense of urgency! Here's him doing a little walking. I hope that each day it will be more and more and we'll be able to say farewell to the crawl!

Family Fun at the Farm

Deanna Rose closes this weekend so we had to make sure to eek out one more visit! Shelby joined us for some good ol' fashioned family fun of goat feeding and playground playing! Plus, you know I never miss a photo-op so there are plenty of those too! ;)

Just to Keep it Interesting

Just to keep things interesting I decided to break my toe yesterday. There are lots of upsides to this, namely, it wasn't my big toe and it was just one lone toe, not my whole foot. See how I can be positive?


Seriously, why me? I ran into the high chair at full force and it just snapped that poor little middle toe. I had to go the ER because, really, I'm not into popping my own bones back into place. It hurts like the dickens, but I'm trying to make it work! Everyone who saw it, including the doctor was grossed out. Awesome. Now I can't run or do much of anything for the next 4-6 weeks. Blah. A picture is below...look at your own risk but be assured that seeing it in person was worse.

I Do Like Treats...

fabulous pumpkin (and smiley) cookies from Carolyn
yummy cake from Mom

beautiful flowers from my hubby!

I was super bummed about Charlie being out of town on my birthday but I made sure to live it up...NOT! Well, I did take a shower, so that right there is exciting! ;) I got a surprise package of cookies on Thursday morning from my dear friend Carolyn, just in time for breakfast. The kids and I happily spoiled our most important meal of the day! Later in the day the flowers arrived and they are just so pretty we're still enjoying them! Mom did cook me a birthday dinner, one of my favorite meals, and got me an absolutely yummy chocolate cake for dessert! Thanks to everyone who called and wished me well. I'm glad to have my hubby home now!

Heading On Home...

Both kids did a super job in the car, both to and from St. Louis. They are getting pretty good and the DVD player helps, I sure can't lie! But the real reason for this post was to acknowledge this milestone for Leo...

His first McDonald's!!!

I know that only a few of you (namely Carolyn) can appreciate why I would even bother to record this moment, but I just had to! He didn't get his own Happy Meal, which will be another photo shoot I'm sure, but he did happily share this goodness with the three of us.

I mean really, McDonald's is a road tripping mommy's (& Daddy) best friend. They have food and a play area, you really couldn't ask for anything more.

While we were away, Walter had a luxurious spa treatment at day care and looked "like a brand new dog!" according to Sophia when we got home. I do love his winter fluff...it looks pretty but don't try and comb that sucker out! It will last a bit longer before we go into winter shave mode, but until then, enjoy our handsome boy!

Rugby Time!

Last Saturday Charlie met us in St. Louis and we were supposed to meet him at the rugby pitch to enjoy a beautiful Saturday game...well, let's just say my I got lost, and that's putting it lightly. The worst part of it was that Kathleen and I drove separately and then we were both lost in totally different areas! Ugh. We finally found it with about 2 minutes left in the game. Oh well, at least Charlie was understanding! :) The day was not lost though, there was a fabulous pumpkin farm just across the road!

William and Leo in their rugby best

I missed you, Daddy!

At the pumpkin farm...

on the zip line

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

(do you love the curls flying in the wind!...priceless!)

:( I tried for one final group shot but the hot weather and tired kiddos did not mix with my pumpkin horse photo shoot!

St. Louis Zoo

seeing the mounted police before going into the zoo was probably the highlight of their day!
Sophia and Lily became Junior Rangers!

Daddy's going to need Leo's skills around here in another week or two!

safari girl!

William doing a little bug investigation

Leo gets a handle on some animal sounds

Sophia was wild about the guinea pigs!

pat the bunny

spider girls

aaaaaaalllllllll aboard!!!

After the zoo, it's just a short drive to Ted Drewes, so there was no question about it! Last summer this is what our Ted Drewes experience looked like....

Sophia passed out in the car

(such fond memories of little Rose!)

two preggies enjoying some frozen custard!

This year it looked like this....

Leo and Sophia passed out in the car...

two friends enjoying frozen custard!

Nothing can come between us and our custard...sleeping children only makes it easier to eat! ;)

On Friday we headed to the St. Louis Zoo...a favorite attraction! This time we enjoyed the zoo room, an awesome play room that babies and toddlers can explore and be creative...it rocks! Then we headed to the Children's Zoo and on a train ride. Both of those were new experiences for us and as expected, it was a great time! We made our pilgrimage to Ted Drewes after the zoo and made sure to get extra to take back for later!